Said and Done
by Gorsecloud
Summary: AU; After Axel finally comes clean and tells Roxas and Xion the truth, they are left with a single choice - to live or die, to fight fate or accept it. And the choice they make will affect more than they can possibly imagine. Now on the run from the Organization, and faced with Sora sleeping for another two years, they must fight to protect the things they love most - each other.
1. Chapter 1

**This fic has been a year in progress, and could not have been possible without the group effort and support of countless people. So thank you so much to the following:**

**Rox, Twi, Mala, Jodie, Icey, Mega, and so many others**

**This fic is coauthored with Kari**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Road Less Traveled**

Axel was restless. He felt like there were gears turning all around him, like everything was changing, but he couldn't tell if it was for better or for worse-he couldn't even tell what direction they were spinning. There was a roiling movement to the atmosphere but somehow Axel just felt stuck, like all that motion had trapped him in the middle and he couldn't get out lest he be torn apart.

Roxas knew now, what Xion was, what Xion was capable of, what she'd been created for… Axel wasn't sure what he'd been expecting-Roxas was a smart kid, after all, it wasn't like he would have stayed ignorant forever. The problem now was what to _do_ about it. At this rate, he was going to lose _both_ of them, and he didn't want that. He wasn't sure he could _handle_ that.

He had to get out of his room. He had to move-had to do _something_. He was tired of sitting on his hands and being a good boy, doing as he was told and waiting for the right time. It was never the right time for these sorts of things.

Axel had never liked the empty sound of the hallways in The Castle That Never Was. The way their boots clicked against the cold white floor always sounded too hollow, echoing unsettlingly in the air. It was _appropriate_, he guessed, given what they were, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Axel."

Roxas' voice sounded empty too, and that was new. There was something heavy and turbulent in the boy's tone, and Axel turned slowly to glance at him. Roxas' face was dark, pulled too tight, and Axel marveled again at just how _human_ the kid could look. They'd done nothing but argue the past few days and he _hated_ it. He hated fighting with Roxas, he hated that dark look on Roxas' face… He almost wished he could believe he actually did hate it, instead of just remembering things he had hated once upon a time and summoning the same practiced scowls and muscle-memory pacing.

"Hey, Roxas," he said, finding his voice finally, and Roxas' blue eyes were pleading. Why did that look always make Axel's stomach do somersaults?

"Did you find Xion?" the boy asked, and Axel fidgeted.

"Like it'd be that easy," he said. "Even _I'm_ not that good."

"I guess you're right." Roxas lowered his eyes and looked for a moment like he wanted to say something more, but then closed his mouth instead.

Axel had pondered once or twice that expression about an elephant in the room. He had seen elephants and he couldn't imagine trying to cram one into a room, let alone ignore it once it was in there, but he was beginning to understand the point behind the idiom. This elephant was staring both of them in the face but neither of them would acknowledge it. Roxas had too many questions, and Axel didn't want to answer them…

No, that wasn't right. He _wanted_ to answer them; what he didn't want was for the answers to be what they were. He didn't want to lie anymore. Imagine that! Axel had spent so much of his life lying to everyone-himself included-that he wasn't even sure he knew _how_ to be honest, but he wanted to try. He just wished there was something less painful to try out being honest about.

"Did you know all along?" Roxas began then, cautiously, as if trying to figure out what angle to attack from. "Have you been keeping the truth from me from the beginning?"

Axel refused to flinch. _No more lies._ "Not… not from the _very_ beginning," he said haltingly, and Roxas' eyes narrowed.

"How long, then?" he asked.

Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't remember, exactly."

"Can't get that sort of thing memorized, huh?"

For an instant things felt normal again-there was that sassy tone in Roxas' voice, a hint of a grin on his lips, like those days on the clock tower. What Axel wouldn't have given to have those days back now.

There was a beat of silence where Axel just held his gaze, and then the familiar old feeling was gone.

"Axel, who _am_ I?" Roxas asked, and Axel wished the kid would have asked him anything but that. He didn't want to lie to him anymore-refused to!-but how could he answer that? "Xion and I are 'special'," he continued, shaking his head, "but The Organization has been trying to destroy me, right?"

Axel nodded. "Yeah," he said, averting his eyes, "that's right."

"Because I'm expendable now that Xion's copied my power?" Roxas' voice was thick with a kind of indignation Axel wished he could have joined him in. "Did you want that too?"

He met Roxas' eyes again, something fierce in his expression, but he couldn't make his tongue work. _Of course I didn't want that!_ his mind screeched, a flicker of that coveted indignation flaring up in his heart. _How could you think I wanted that? We're-_

"We're best friends, aren't we?" he finally managed to blurt out, the words falling clumsily, rote, from his mouth, and Roxas glared at him.

"Are we?" he asked, and reached out suddenly to grab a fistful of the front of Axel's coat. "If we are, then just be honest and tell me what you know, Axel!"

Axel found himself musing on how _angry_ Roxas seemed, rather than what he was angry about. The indignation bled into something like jealousy, and Axel found himself wanting to scoff. If all he could think in that moment was how enviable it was that Roxas really did seem to have a heart, then wasn't that proof enough that he himself had none?

Maybe everything he'd done was a mistake after all. Maybe being in the Organization was a mistake. Maybe Castle Oblivion, and his plans with Saïx, maybe _everything_ had been a mistake. … Was his entire life as a Nobody a mistake he could even fix?

"Who _am_ I, Axel?" Roxas demanded, and Axel forced himself to look at him. "Xemnas said that Xion and I are connected by 'Sora', but I don't know what that is! Am I the same as Xion? Am I nothing but a puppet, too!?"

He shook his head, not even bothering to try and disentangle himself from Roxas' grip. "You're different from Xion," he said quietly, and Roxas bared his teeth.

"Then-"

"Stop, Roxas," he interrupted. "I mean it; it's for your own good you don't know. The truth isn't going to make you feel any better."

"That isn't for you to decide!" Roxas shouted, letting go of Axel's coat and tangling his fingers in his own hair instead. "I want to know the truth about myself! Why am I here? Why can I use the Keyblade? Don't I have a right to know _who I am_?"

Roxas genuinely looked as though he was on the verge of tears, and that flutter of envy undulated through Axel's blood again. As cumbersome as emotions were, he would have done anything to _feel_ as guilty and contrite as he wanted to feel right then.

Roxas shook his head. "Axel, _please_, I have to know," he said.

_That's just it,_ Axel thought, _I can't tell you. I don't even know where to begin._ And more than that, if he explained that he was Sora's Nobody, what if Roxas took the same path as Xion? What if he threw the Organization away, became a traitor? If Roxas left, Axel couldn't keep his promise to Xion. If he broke his promise, after everything he'd already done, there was nothing in all the worlds that could save him. He would never be forgiven, let alone be able to forgive him_self_.

The trouble was, he had a feeling (heh… a _feeling_) that it was already too late.

"Roxas, you've just got to trust me," he said, and Roxas looked up at him, betrayal and _pain_ in those big blue eyes of his for the most fleeting of moments, and then the anger, the sadness… everything just fled his expression, leaving behind the cold, unfeeling mask he had worn that first week they'd met. Somehow that hurt more than the look of betrayal.

"I can't," Roxas said, and Axel was sure his stomach had just dropped to his knees.

"Roxas-"

"How can you even _ask_ me to trust you anymore?" he said, shaking his head and taking a step back.

"Roxas, _wait-_"

But Roxas just turned his back, a complete rejection of Axel's words. "If you won't give me the answers I'll go find someone who will," he said, "and _that's_ the person I'll trust."

Axel's voice died in his throat as he watched Roxas stalk down the hallway, the empty sound of his footsteps echoing off the walls. He reached out, like maybe he could grab the boy's shadow and drag him back; he racked his brain for the words, the right words, the words that would change things, _fix_ things, but no words came.

His arm fell back to his side as Roxas vanished down the hallway, and Axel sagged where he stood. No, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be!

… This _wasn't_ the way things would be. Axel had lost too much already to the darkness, he wasn't going to lose anything-or any_one_-more. He was sick and tired of giving up the things he cared about because of someone else's agenda.

Closing his hands into fists, Axel turned on his heel and stormed down the hall. Maybe everything up until now had been a mistake, and maybe there was no way to fix all the mistakes he'd made, but he couldn't just not try. Axel was many things but a quitter was not one of them, and if it meant taking a few risks to save Roxas and Xion from the Organization's plans then so be it. He owed them that much.

His mind was going a million miles an hour now, lining up pieces and rearranging tasks that would need to be undertaken. No doubt Roxas was already blazing his way toward the exit; he didn't have much time to take care of things here before Roxas left for good. All he needed was one more shot-just one! He needed one last chance to make this look good, and if he blew it this time then they were all going down.

It was a good thing Axel wasn't prone to folding under pressure.

Hurrying down the stairs in the main foyer of the castle, he spied a familiar mane of blue hair and set his jaw.

"Saïx," he called, and the other man paused in his steps, turning to give him a long-suffering look.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, Axel," he said tersely; "can this wait?"

"That's my line," Axel said, and Saïx lifted one eyebrow. Axel sort of flapped his hands in the air-a pleading gesture. "I'm saying, I just need a little more time," he said.

"Pardon?"

"I _know_ I could get her to come back if I just had a little more time."

Saïx's eyes narrowed and he folded his arms.

"All our plans are falling down around our ears, Roxas is destroying Dusks inside the castle hallways, and you're asking me to make allowances for a traitor?" he asked, and Axel's expression hardened.

"I'm giving it one last shot whether you approve the mission parameters or not," he said, and Saïx just sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, do as you like," he said, turning, and Axel felt a grin slide, unbidden, across his lips. "It's not like you ever listen to reason anyway. Just make sure you get it right this time, or I won't be coming to your rescue."

"Like you've _ever_ come to my rescue," Axel muttered under his breath, and Saïx exhaled audibly.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a second traitor to deal with."

"You won't be able to stop him," Axel said, and Saïx paused, but didn't turn back around. Axel set his teeth. "Obstinacy and lies won't sway him, you know that, don't you?"

"I take it you know this from experience."

Axel flinched. "I figured I'd save you the trouble of trial and error," he replied. "There's no way you'll be able to do anything to stop him."

"What would you have me do, then?" Saïx's words were thin, quiet, contemplative, and Axel shook his head with a scoff.

"Just do as you like," he said, and then was gone with the _whoosh_ of a corridor before Saïx could respond.

* * *

**Chapter 2 should be up shortly, as it and Chapter 1 are very closely linked. **


	2. Chapter 2

**This fic is coauthored with Kari.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Deviation**

Despite his own fatigue and general malaise over the past few weeks, Roxas had to admit that Saïx had hardly seemed much of a challenge to get past, though whether it was a testament to Saïx's weakness or his own abilities he couldn't say for certain. He had never fought with so much anger in his heart before (so to speak), had never swung his Keyblade with so much determination and frustration in his grip. Saïx had fallen easily, his claymore shattered along with his resolve, and Roxas had just kept right on walking and didn't even spare him a second glance.

He was a Nobody, wasn't he? Maybe he wasn't, after all. Maybe he was different-maybe he and Axel weren't so alike. He had believed once that Axel was the only one who really _got_ him, but obviously that wasn't the case now. If Axel really understood him, then he would have understood why it was so important for him to know the truth, right? Or was that asking too much of him? _Roxas_ wasn't even entirely certain why he had such a burning need to know the truth, so how could Axel have known? Maybe _no one_ understood him. Maybe he wasn't a Nobody, maybe he was just nothing at all. Maybe he really _was_ alone.

Maybe it didn't matter anyway.

There was a dark, heavy feeling coursing through him right now, one that drove his feet forward through the streets of the deserted city, away from the only place he'd ever been really able to call 'home.' That same feeling was what also made him ignore the familiar flash of red that flickered in the corner of his eye. Maybe Axel knew him better than he thought after all-he'd known right where to find him. There he was, leaning against a wall in that infuriating pose he always assumed, with his arms folded and his head down, his secrets guarded. Roxas scoffed, walking forward doggedly.

"So your mind's made up?"

Now that Axel had acknowledged him, Roxas' footsteps slowed to a halt. He shifted, turning his head halfway over his shoulder to speak to Axel without looking at him. "Why did the Keyblade choose me?" he asked. For a moment, he paused, some faint, fleeting part of him half-hoping Axel might finally give him the answers he wanted-no, _needed_. A brief silence later, though, he turned forward again, "I have to know."

"You can't turn on the Organization!" Axel's voice was gravelly, like he had to fight to even say the words. "You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"

_They're already trying to destroy me_, he couldn't help but think, _you said so yourself. It doesn't matter if I stay or go._ Why was Axel so determined that he stay? He wouldn't even tell him the truth! Why was he even here? Had he come to drag him back? To hand him to Xemnas personally? Maybe he'd been part of the plan from day one. Maybe they had never really been friends in the first place.

The idea made something in Roxas' chest heavy and cold, and he lowered his head.

"No one would miss me," he said finally. They couldn't feel anyway; it wasn't like anyone would be sad.

There was a long moment filled with nothing but a wistful wish for things to go back to the way they had been and a certainty that it would never happen, and then he started walking again, and he didn't look back.

"That's not _true_!" He heard Axel's voice echo off the high rainswept sides of the buildings around them. Roxas didn't stop. "... _I_ would."

Roxas' steps didn't slow, but something squelched in his stomach. He had never before heard his friend sound so _despondent_. Would he really miss him? Was that even possible for them? Axel had been the one to chide him for being worried when the others had been annihilated at Castle Oblivion... how was missing someone any different?

More lies, it was _always_ lies. He didn't know why Axel was so determined to keep him here, but it wasn't going to work. He couldn't trust him anymore.

"Roxas."

Axel's voice sounded further away now-how far had he walked?

"Roxas!"

Axel had to shout now to be heard, but it wasn't going to change anything.

"_Roxas_!"

Roxas was about to whirl on his heel and shout back that nothing Axel said would change his mind. He was about to just really give Axel what-for, whatever that meant, but as he shifted his weight to pivot sharply, he heard Axel's voice in the darkness once more.

"He's _you_!" Axel cried, and as he turned Roxas could see his friend's shoulders were hunched, his hands fisted tightly at his sides. He looked more desperate than he had ever seen him, and maybe that was the only reason he paused rather than shouting back.

_He's... me?_ Who_ is me? I don't understand._

Roxas furrowed his brow and shook his head, but made no move to close the distance between them. This was a gap Axel was going to have to close himself.

"Sora," Axel said, his feet still rooted to the spot where he stood, almost as if he were afraid to approach him now. "Your connection to Sora... the reason you can wield the Keyblade..." Axel grimaced, like the words hurt to speak, and then shook his head fiercely. "He's _you_, Roxas-you're two sides of the same coin."

Roxas still didn't understand.

Axel's bright eyes caught the neon lights overhead and flashed like fireflies in the darkness.

"You're _Sora's_ Nobody, Roxas."

"I'm..." His throat felt strange, like something too heavy was sitting in it. It made him pause.

_'Sora. He's the connection. He is what makes you and Xion a part of each other's lives. Just as he is the reason I placed Xion among our number.'_

Roxas' hands clenched into fists of their own volition. Something familiar and hot and prickling began to rise from his chest. He was Sora's Nobody. Sora was the reason for everything. If it weren't for Sora...

The prickling heat broke through whatever was sitting in Roxas' throat and suddenly he could speak again.

"Is that why I matter?" he found himself saying. His voice grew louder, harsher, with each word. "Is that why me and Xion are like this? What makes _him_ so important? Why...?!"

Axel's hands were suddenly on Roxas' shoulders and he jumped, startled. He hadn't even seen Axel _move_. Snapping his chin up to give him a wild, desperate look, Roxas shook his head, his face pulled tight into a grimace.

"If Sora's so important, then why do Xion and I exist at all?" he cried, and Axel's grip on his shoulders tightened.

"Roxas, stop," he said with a sigh. There was something defeated in Axel's posture. "Look, I told you knowing the truth wouldn't change anything, wouldn't make it any better." He let go of him and sort of flapped his arms helplessly at his sides. "I'm not sure what happened to make you and Xion... the way you are," he said. "It's kind of unprecedented for a Nobody and their Other to both exist at the same time anyway, so far as I know, but..." He sighed, then shrugged one shoulder. "So... yes, that's why you mattered to the Organization," he admitted. "They need the Keyblade to capture the hearts to fill up Kingdom Hearts, and they knew Sora would never cooperate, so they collected you and made Xion in the hopes of having a Keyblade they would manipulate to their own ends."

Roxas wanted to punch something, some_one_, more than anything right now. He wanted to scream and scream and scream until his throat was raw and his voice was gone and there was nothing left. _It's not fair,_ he thought, and it repeated in his head relentlessly. His chest was hot and heavy and he could hear the blood pounding in his ears and he didn't know why. He didn't know what this feeling (_ha_!) was, and he understood even less why Axel still stood there, saying these things. He didn't want to tell him _anything_ before. What had changed?

_It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not - _

"Well, now _you've_ gotten what you wanted." The words tumbled out of his mouth, vindictive and angry and cold, before he really thought about it. "I hope you're happy."

Roxas turned to leave. He didn't know what he wanted to do, but he knew he couldn't stand being here with Axel anymore.

"What I...?" Axel's hand caught him by the shoulder, arresting his movement. "Roxas, you can't honestly think I _wanted_ any of this."

Roxas had to fight the overwhelming urge to just _hiss_ at him.

"Well you sure didn't do anything to _stop_ it!" he snarled. "You knew all along what I was here for, didn't you? You knew from day one just who I was, and you did nothing but play along!"

"Roxas-"

"You just came along for the ride-you let me and Xion be... be _used_! Like we're just some kind of _tools_!"

"Roxas, would you _liste_-"

"Were you _ordered_ to become my best friend?"

Axel's hands were suddenly on both sides of Roxas' head, forcing him to look up at him, and his eyes were angry and turbulent and... somehow sadder than Roxas expected.

"Dammit, Roxas, would you _shut up_ for a second and _listen_ to me?" he said, and Roxas swallowed hard, his breath shaking and his pulse pounding in his throat. "Look, I know you're angry, even if I can't understand how you manage," Axel said, "but you didn't let me finish."

Roxas mustered the fiercest glare he could manage and wrenched himself free of Axel's grip.

"So finish," he spat.

"You and Xion... the Organization only wanted you for your Keyblades," he said. "That's why you mattered to them..." There was a beat of silence, and then he shook his head. "But that isn't why you matter to _me_, okay? You and Xion aren't just shadows or leftovers so far as I'm concerned. Maybe things started out that way, and... maybe I'm an idiot for that, but nobody _ordered_ me to get to know you. Nobody _ordered_ me to become your friend." He flapped his arms again, like he didn't know what to do with them. "And... nobody ordered me to come after you, either. Or to tell you the truth. In fact they kind of told me _not_ to, so..."

Roxas' eyes were itchy and it felt like something was trying to escape from them. "So... What?" he finally managed, and his voice sounded strange and choked, too, even though he didn't want it to. Suddenly that choked-up feeling he'd had back when he had thought Axel had been lost in Castle Oblivion was back, squeezing tight like fingers around his throat.

Axel just looked at him a moment before sighing, "So… I guess I'm a traitor now too," he said, "because you two are more important than orders and missions and… whatever else the Organization thought was all you were good for. You and Xion, you're my best friends, remember?"

His throat constricted even further.

Xion…

The edges of his vision blurred. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to will the sensation away. It was only when he felt like he could speak without without something else escaping his mouth that he finally croaked the first thing that came to mind. Not about what Axel had just told him. He couldn't handle thinking about it right now. Something else.

"Why did you let her go?" If now was a time for truth and answers, then maybe…

There was another moment's silence before Axel finally spoke. "I didn't want to," he said. "I tried to stop her-I knew what she was and what would happen if she stayed, but I couldn't stand to send her away either…" He shook his head. "She asked me to let her go, though."

"Why? Why would she want to leave us again?!"

"Because-!" Axel's voice caught in his throat; he seemed to be struggling with his words again. "Because she wanted to protect you."

"From what?"

"From herself."

The idea itself seemed so ridiculous that his eyes snapped open and he stared up at Axel, dumbfounded. Why would she want to protect him from herself? Why would she be doing anything that might hurt him at all? Xion was his (their?) best friend!

"Look… I told you she was dangerous, remember?" Axel averted his eyes briefly, then looked back at him. "Replicas can absorb power from a source. It's not something she could control though, and when you started getting weaker…" He shrugged helplessly. "It didn't take a genius to put two and two together."

"And that's why she left." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." Axel's voice sounded as empty as Roxas' insides felt. "That's why she left."

Roxas drew a shuddering breath and then looked up at Axel, something welling up painfully in his chest.

"But... how did this all _happen_?"

Axel shook his head.

"Roxas, listen, we can talk about this later-"

Roxas clenched his fists. "No, we can talk about this _now_," he said fiercely. "You've kept me waiting long eno-"

"This is _more important_, Roxas," Axel interrupted, raising his voice, and Roxas quieted only because there was something truly urgent in Axel's tone. "I made a promise," he said, and Roxas arched one eyebrow. "A promise to Xion."

"To Xion?" Roxas shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I promised I'd..." His voice failed him suddenly and that slump was back in his posture, and Roxas thought it rather looked like he was trying to carry a backpack that was too heavy for him. "That I'd protect you," he concluded after a long pause, his words almost too quiet to hear.

"_Protect_ me?" Roxas couldn't help but sound a cross between confused and incredulous, "Why does she want me protected?"

Almost unbidden, a memory surfaced-one of his own-with him telling her it was funny to see her worrying about him, and her response that she worried about him all the time. Of all the times to remember something like that…

"Because…" Axel explained, and there was something in his voice that cut through the hot, tight feeling in his chest. "You've already seen some of the things they're willing to do to get rid of one of you and… she's not even going to be able to be herself for very long at this rate."

"What does that mean?" Roxas asked sharply. Unable to be herself? That made no sense! "You told me I was the one who wouldn't be me anymore."

"And if she continues to absorb your powers, your memories, she won't be _Xion_ for much longer," Axel said. "You both fulfill the same purpose-the Organization didn't _need_ the both of you." He ground the heel of one hand into his eye socket, like he had a sudden headache. "You're still not seeing the bigger picture, are you?"

Roxas shook his head-this was too much. "I don't understand," he said, holding his head in his hands. The hot feeling suddenly turned cold. Roxas was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

_It was only a matter of time before somebody had to break the mirror._

You mean destroy her.

"Axel…" And now there was something desperate in his voice now too, "what's going to happen to her?"

Axel shook his head fiercely.

"Nothing, if I've got any say in it," he replied, and Roxas frowned.

Wait, hadn't Axel said she was dangerous? Why would he suddenly pipe up in her defense? Roxas' brow crinkled in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and then felt kind of stupid. He always seemed to be asking what everyone meant-why couldn't he just _understand_ things? Why was this so difficult?

Axel bent forward and put his hands on Roxas' shoulders again, but the desperation was gone now, replaced with determination. In that moment Roxas thought to himself that Axel looked very strong, not at all like the hopeless, disconsolate man he had seemed only moments before.

"I mean we have to stop her."

"Stop her?" Roxas' eyes were wide. "Stop her from what?"

Axel opened his mouth to respond, then hesitated. He gave Roxas an uncertain look, then asked in a thin voice, "Can you trust me?" A shake of his head and he continued, "I didn't want to lie. I really thought it was what was best for you-I knew that knowing the truth would only breed more questions... questions I _don't_ know the answers to." He released Roxas' shoulders. "I knew you would leave," he said, "and I couldn't keep my promise if you were gone, but... if we do this together, if you can trust me again, even just long enough to do this, I think maybe I can keep my promise and we can help Xion, too."

Roxas frowned. As much as Axel had essentially spilled all those answers he'd been keeping to himself this whole time, it didn't feel like he could just... trust him again, just like that. Wasn't this all too little too late? On the other hand, it sounded like Xion was in trouble, and honestly needed their help. Axel knew more about the situation than he did, he couldn't deny that. He didn't actually think he could help her by himself-was it worth it to risk her life just because he hesitated to put his faith in Axel now?

Axel had lied, and Axel had done some awful things, but even Roxas couldn't deny that Axel had never done anything to deliberately put either of them in danger. He had always had their backs, even if he hadn't understood the older Nobody's actions at the time.

"All right," he said finally. "But... this doesn't just make everything okay, got it? You have to tell me what's going on."

For a moment, it felt like Axel was scrutinizing him, then he nodded.

"Kid, if we all make it out of this alive, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Well, that really hadn't gone the way Roxas had expected at all. He'd stormed out of the castle thinking he would never look back, never see Axel again, never go _home_ again… and here he was calling a truce-if only a temporary one. Was this wise? Was this the right thing to do? He looked up at Axel once more and could see that Axel was… Axel was _sorry_! He was a bit surprised to see it so blatantly on his face, but that was an expression of contrition if Roxas knew one at all. If Axel was sorry enough to really look the part, then maybe there was still something worth saving here after all.

In any case, saving Xion came first at this point. Roxas nodded firmly.

"All right, let's go," he said, turning back toward to the deserted streets of the World that Never Was. Even if he wasn't sure he could trust Axel to be _honest_, he trusted Axel not to hurt him, not to hurt Xion. Even when he'd knocked her out and brought her back to the castle, he had done it to _help_ her, right? Xion had assured him of that herself.

He watched, his steps slowing, as Axel outstripped him and waved a hand to open a portal.

"You know where she is?" he asked, and Axel's expression was suddenly shadowed with sheepishness.

"Yeah, I think so," he said with a sigh. "That's… that's why I came after you; if you wouldn't come with me, I'd have to go get her myself; you never would have found her in time on your own." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I actually kind of expected you to just punch me in the jaw and keep walking, but I wanted to give it one last shot."

Roxas couldn't quite muster a tired smile, but something in him wanted to. Axel had his flaws, but this time it seemed he really _did_ have their best interests in mind. Roxas reached out and gave Axel's sleeve a tug then moved through the opening into the corridor beyond.

"Let's get Xion first," he said as Axel closed the portal behind them, "and I'll think about punching you in the jaw later."

Funny the way you didn't realize you missed a familiar sound until you noticed you hadn't heard it in a while: Axel's laughter was hollow in the shifting blue halls between worlds, but it was welcome all the same.

* * *

**And thus things begin to change... The first nine or so chapters of the fic are ready or almost ready, but will be released over time to try to preserve the buffer as long as possible. We'll see how things go from there after that. **

**All feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much! **


	3. Chapter 3

**This fic is coauthored with Kari.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Escape**

Fingers twisting into the fabric of her coat, Xion listened quietly as Naminé spoke. She had known before she'd even come here that she was in a precarious sort of situation and that her future was likely grim, but nothing could have fully prepared her for the truth.

"You're made of Sora's memories. Once I pull them apart to put them back, there won't be a 'Xion' to remember." Naminé shook her head then, her eyes lowering to her hands in her lap, though it did nothing to conceal the anguish within them. "I can't save you, Xion, not even a memory."

Xion merely bowed her head. It was no more or less than she had expected, really, so why did it still feel like a punch in the stomach? It hurt, stung, to know there really wasn't even anything _Naminé_ could do.

She couldn't let this crush her resolve. She had to keep her head now, had to quash this beneath a layer of determination and calm. It was all right. It was okay. So long as she went back where she belonged, so long as she didn't kill Roxas simply by _existing_, it would be all right.

"I know," she said, finally lifting her head. "It's okay. I'm ready. That's... that's why I'm here."

She paused then. Something had been bothering her ever since she'd discovered the real reason she'd been made: if she had been built to absorb memories, and the absorption of Sora's memories had been affecting _Roxas_, to the point of potentially destroying him, then that probably meant something she really didn't want to think about. She knew who Roxas was and had no illusions of trying to fool herself.

"He... he has to go back too, doesn't he? Roxas," she said, something thick and difficult to swallow in her throat.

Naminé hesitated, then nodded. Xion felt something shatter within her. So was it really all for nothing? What she was doing? Her sacrifice, everyone forgetting her... Would it truly change nothing? If Roxas was still doomed to return to Sora, then escaping the fate of being absorbed by her now was only delaying the inevitable!

Useless. Hopeless. Pointless. Everything. All of it.

She still had to do it, though—she couldn't _not_. The lump in her throat was almost painful.

"He's not ready," she said calmly, her voice quivering only the slightest bit. _He may never be ready._ What more could she do, though? She couldn't bear the thought of destroying Roxas, even if his destruction was unavoidable in the long run.

Naminé shook her head. "He doesn't feel Sora yet," she said by way of agreeing, "but he will."

Xion met the other girl's bright blue eyes—the same blue as her own. Was it really hopeless? she wanted to ask. Was there really no other way? The questions died on her tongue before she could ask, though; Naminé's eyes answered them without words.

"Please," she said, trying to swallow before continuing, "please look after him until he does, until he understands. You're... you're not alone. I've asked someone else. But..." She couldn't continue; she closed her mouth abruptly.

There was a pause as Naminé seemed to consider this request, then finally she nodded. "I will," she said, and Xion's gaze fell to her lap again, relief and sadness coursing in equal parts through her.

And then Naminé's voice broke the silence again, and Xion looked up. "Are you ready to go see Sora?" the blond girl asked, and Xion took a deep breath.

_Was_ she ready? She wasn't sure she would ever really be ready, but this was as ready as she was ever going to get.

"I think you're forgetting something very important here," a voice piped up suddenly, and Xion felt everything behind her sternum seize up. She turned in time to see a portal open, two familiar shapes emerging from the whorling darkness. "You neglected to get a second opinion, Xion."

_No. No, not now, not here, not when I'm so close to making things right._

Axel's eyes were narrow, somehow hurt, and Xion couldn't quite figure out why. He understood, didn't he? He didn't want Roxas to be in danger anymore either, right? Why did he look so upset with her? Didn't he know this was what had to be done?

But most importantly, she realized, eyes darting from Axel to Roxas and back, why were they _both_ here?

No, they shouldn't be here. They _couldn't_ be! This was _why_ she hadn't wanted Roxas to know: because he wouldn't understand, and because with him there, gazing at her with a look of determination and solidarity, would she lose that resolve to save him?

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat to no avail. "Why... why are you here?"

_Why are you not just letting me do this?_

"Why do you _think_ we're here?" Axel asked, shaking his head. "You really thought your best friends were just going to stand by and let you destroy yourself?"

_But that's what has to be done!_ she thought wretchedly.

"Don't try and stop me," she said firmly, turning away and looking at Naminé again, lest every anguished twitch of her expression betray her, telltale cracks in the numb calm she'd built up. _There is no place for me here. There is no world where all three of us can be together safely. Just let me fade away and it won't even hurt once it's done._

She searched for Naminé's gaze, but her wide eyes were focused beyond her, presumably at Axel. Naminé seemed stunned for some reason.

"Why do you look so startled, Naminé?" he asked, his words as icy as his eyes. "You look like you've seen a ghost! I know it's been a while, but I thought you at least had my face memorized."

"I thought you were dead," she said quietly. "I thought _everyone_ at Castle Oblivion had been eliminated."

He sighed and shook his head. "Man, you and Roxas are a real pair," he grumbled, folding his arms; "don't you guys have any faith in my abilities?"

A moment later, Xion felt Axel's hand on her shoulder and she all but flinched away, as if his very touch had burned her.

"So?" His words floated past her, directed at Naminé, and Axel's fingers squeezed her shoulder, though whether it was an attempt at reassurance or a warning to stay where she was, Xion wasn't certain.

"'So'?" Naminé seemed to recover her composure, echoing Axel's words quietly.

"You're really giving up that easily?" he asked, and Naminé looked startled. Axel scoffed. "Yeah, we heard enough to know what you're planning," he said, "and you of all people, Naminé, I thought you were made of sterner stuff."

Xion tensed. Why wouldn't he let this go? He knew it was the only course for them. "This was _my_ idea," she said sullenly to the table, and Axel clicked his tongue.

"And that's something I'll scold you for later," he assured her, "but for the moment I want to know why Naminé was so quick to dismiss her own abilities."

For the first time since Xion had sat down, Naminé looked outright abashed. She stared down at her hands folded in her lap.

Finally, she said quietly, "DiZ would never allow the time I need to untangle their memories."

Xion's ears felt funny, almost numb, and a sort of sense of unreality settled over her as her eyes widened.

"It..." Even her _voice_ sounded strange. "It's not... I thought it was useless?"

Naminé seemed torn. "It _is_, unless..." At that she stopped suddenly, as if she didn't want to give them any further hope.

"Hey!" Roxas' voice broke through the awkward silence testily, making Xion jump. "I still don't even know what's going on here!"

Axel's fingers tightened around her shoulder again, and this time Xion was confident it was more out of exasperation than anything else. He didn't address Roxas' confusion and instead continued speaking to Naminé.

"DiZ," he said, his voice lifting a bit but not quite enough to be a question. "That cloaked weirdo from Castle Oblivion? Who _cares_ what he thinks?"

His hand lifted from her shoulder then and Xion glanced up in time to see him spread his hands out to either side, palms up—a gesture of fluster and impatience. She watched his hands a moment, remembering absently how he always spoke with them in such an animated way. It was nostalgic. Somehow those good old days felt infinitely far from them now.

"He's the only reason I survived," Naminé insisted by way of explanation. "I can't defy him."

"Wrong again," Axel said, rolling his eyes. "_I'm_ the reason you survived—without my help you would have stayed locked up in that ivory cage under Marluxia's thumb. 'Least 'til Sora destroyed him, anyway." His voice was ragged, like he'd been growling or coughing a lot; he sounded strained and Xion couldn't quite determine why. "I thought you would have done better with your second chance, to avoid being someone's pawn."

"I had no choice," she said to the table, and Axel made a sibilant noise.

"You _always_ have a choice."

Maybe that was why he sounded so strained, Xion thought then, watching Naminé's face twist with discomfort. Axel was being really harsh, and that wasn't like him. He had been stern and serious when he'd shown them the ropes of missions, and he certainly had no qualms about telling people what he really thought about any given situation, but he was rarely _mean_. Why did this have him so agitated, to the point of such acrid words? Didn't he know what the alternative was?

"Axel..." her voice was hesitant. Nothing felt right anymore. Everything that she had been so sure about had suddenly been thrown into question. and now it felt like the whole plan was spiraling out of control. "Axel, please."

Both Roxas and Axel let out impatient noises, the latter shaking his head sharply.

"'Please'?" He gave her an incredulous look. "That's _my_ line."

Xion's eyes widened at that. Wait, hadn't he been angry? Why did he suddenly look so sad? She didn't have time to search his eyes before they swam back to Naminé though.

Naminé finally glanced down and away from Axel's accusing gaze. "It's not that simple. He has Sora and his friends too. And there's still..."

"Still _what_, Naminé?" Axel demanded, something sharp and desperate in his tone. "Don't you see what you're doing? You're giving the Organization exactly what it wants. If Xion's out of the way then they can focus on Roxas without worrying she'll destroy him—they're _afraid_ of her!"

Xion was surprised by that. The Organization was afraid of her? Was it because of what she _was_? They had _created_ her—had they truly not known of the fatal flaw in her makeup? Or had they simply hoped they would be able to control her better, to use her as the puppet she was instead of having to deal with her growing a personality and free will?

"Xion is the wrench in their gears," Axel said, "and I say we let her stay that way, DiZ be damned."

Xion hung her head. Was that really all she was? A wrench, a tool? Even to Axel? She jumped when she felt his hand again, this time on top of her head. Like old times. She dared not move beneath the weight of it, though, until he spoke again.

"And moreover, more than wanting to deny them what they want... Xion's my friend—_our_ friend. And I'm pretty sure I speak for Roxas too when I say we're not inclined to give her up without a fight."

"No way!" Roxas said with conviction. He still sounded confused, but the frustration seemed more aimed at the apparent hopelessness of the situation rather than his own ignorance of the details. He sounded as upset as Axel did.

She swallowed, a weird pressure around the edges of her eyes, though they remained dry. She hadn't wanted this. She didn't want to feel the tiny curls of hope blooming in her chest, the desire to rage and fight against her fate. When she'd found out what was happening, on top of everything she knew, she had just wanted to _finish_ this, to go back to where she belonged. She had wanted to stop hurting the others by existing; she hadn't wanted them to fight for this, for _her_.

Why couldn't they just let her go like they were supposed to? Her shoulders were quaking and she just couldn't make them stop.

"But... but what about Roxas?" her voice was quiet. "If I don't disappear, then he'll..."

"H-hey!" Roxas protested. "Don't just make this all about me! I don't want _you_ to disappear either!"

Choking on the lump still in her throat, Xion buried her face in her hands.

Axel's hand was still on her head, heavy and warm, and she just couldn't believe this was happening. They were supposed to let her go. They were supposed to _forget_ her! How could they do this, how could they just show up and be willing to fight for her, knowing what she was? Knowing what she could do?

"How much time are we talking, Naminé?" Axel asked. "To the Underworld with DiZ, for all I care—can you save Xion?"

"I told you, it would take too lo—"

"_Can_ you?" he interrupted sharply. "Stop worrying about what DiZ thinks, what DiZ wants, and just tell me, Naminé: can you save my friend or not?"

Xion couldn't look at her, couldn't look at anyone. There was a long pause of silence so thick she could have shattered it with her Keyblade, and then she heard Naminé sigh.

"It's possible," she said, an unvoiced 'but' in her tone. "It could take months, maybe even years before everything was sorted out. As for you, Roxas..." She inclined her head in his direction. "I think that the problem is because she's absorbing Sora's memories through you, she's absorbing what makes makes you _you_. I would need to find a way to stop that, in order to continue, or we'll have to find another method eventually, because anything I do probably wouldn't be permanent. And there's no way I can do it here, not with DiZ."

"Then... then come with us!" Roxas said, and Xion whipped her head around to look at him as he lurched forward and half-spilled his hands onto the white table, as if he'd tripped over his own words.

"Wait, what?" Axel scratched his head. "Where are we going?"

"Does it matter?" Roxas sounded incensed, looking from Naminé to Xion to Axel. "We can't stay with the Organization—they'll destroy us. Especially now."

"Yeah, you blowing through all the Dusks in the halls is kind of grounds for eviction," Axel said, and Roxas' face darkened briefly. Axel lifted his hands placatingly then. "All right, all right, too soon, I get it; I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"Don't think you're off the hook that easy," Roxas said in a warning tone, and Axel deflated a bit as the boy turned back to Naminé.

"So, come with us," he said, and then turned toward Xion. "She can help you, Xion. You don't have to do this. If we take her away from this DiZ person and give her the time she needs, she can fix everything!"

Naminé didn't look so sure she deserved Roxas' vote of confidence, but Xion was more taken aback by how quickly Roxas had just accepted this. Hadn't he figured out how dangerous she was to him? Was she absorbing the very threads and fibers that held him together even as they spoke? He had never even _met_ Naminé before and he was prepared to put his fate in her hands?

She was fighting a losing battle and she knew it and she didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't know how to feel about _anything_ anymore.

Could it really be possible? Could she really be allowed to exist, to be with her friends a while longer? But she was a _part_ of Sora, wasn't she? Did she truly dare to hope to exist apart _from_ him?

She turned to Namine. "Will... will it work?"

Naminé hesitated for a moment, then smiled helplessly. "Given enough time, I believe it will." She folded her hands over her chest then. "I get the feeling Sora would've wanted it this way, anyway."

Xion swallowed. She turned to look at Axel and Roxas. "But what about Kingdom Hearts? We can't let Xemnas have it. We _can't_."

Axel shook his head, pointing from her to Roxas.

"Without you two and those fancy Keyblades of yours, he won't _get_ it," he said. "Remember: _I_ sure can't use a Keyblade... me, I could kill as many Heartless as I wanted to and they'd all just come back—the hearts would just recoalesce into another Heartless somewhere. If you guys aren't the ones to take them out, Xemnas doesn't _get_ the hearts."

He turned to Naminé again then, folding his arms and looking thoughtful.

"Well, I'm not sure where we're apparently going," he said, "and I'm not sure what'll happen when we get there, but... you're welcome to tag along."

That numb sense of unreality was still strong and getting stronger all the while. Was this really happening? "Is it really going to be okay?" Her voice was quiet; she hardly dared to believe it.

Roxas lifted a hand, reaching over and covering hers with his own and the pressure behind her eyes sharply increased in intensity. The gesture was so much like what he'd done in that one dream she'd had; the expression his face as she looked at her was familiar for the same reason. They had wanted her to come back with them then, her two best friends... had the dream been trying to tell her this was truly the right path to take after all?

"Come on, Xion," Roxas said, his voice full of warmth, "let's go."

Anything else anyone might have said was lost then, for at that moment the door flew open and a tall figure draped in a dark mantle came storming into the room like a hurricane. She had had the unpleasant privilege of meeting DiZ upon her arrival at the mansion, and the only thing she could think at his advent was, _Not now! Not when I finally have a chance!_

"Naminé, are you quite done talking with that puppet yet?" he demanded, his voice harsh and exasperated. "We don't have time for—" He abruptly fell silent then, catching sight of the two extra people in the room. His face darkened and one eye twitched. "What is going on here? I demand an explanation!"

Axel folded his arms over his chest and popped one hip, wearing what Xion liked to call his 'did someone cast Confuse on you?' face.

"You demand?" He scoffed. "Is that so~? You know, I find that people are a lot more receptive to invasive lines of questioning when you ask nicely." And then he shifted and his hand was on top of her head again, and Xion sort of jumped, startled by the sudden contact. "And I'd _appreciate_ it if you wouldn't call my friend here a puppet," he added, something dangerous in his voice; "really, you'll hurt someone's _feelings_ with that sort of talk."

DiZ snorted with derision. "You speak as though you have them in the first place."

Axel made an exaggerated show of rolling his eyes.

"It's called _sarcasm_, old man, look it up sometime."

DiZ's gaze swept the room again, and this time fell on the person standing right next to her. "Roxas," he said quietly. There was a sort of amazement in his voice and a look on his face Xion didn't like.

Something in her grew stern and angry and she thrust a hand out in front of her friend, between him and the doorway. "Leave them alone. I already made the choice to come here myself, so just leave them be."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," DiZ retorted, not sounding sorry in the slightest, "not with all the pieces finally in place."

"Pieces?" Roxas sounded indignant, "What's he even—"

"DiZ , please," Naminé pleaded, "just let me—"

"Enough of this foolishness!" DiZ cut them off with a wave of his hand. "Naminé, you must incapacitate them now while we have the opportunity."

"Sorry," Axel said, spreading his arms and summoning his chakrams with a burst of heat and smoke, "but I'm afraid these 'pieces' aren't willing to play by the rules of your game anymore."

"Axel, please, don't—"

He shot Naminé a warning look and she hushed immediately, and as he jerked his chin in a beckoning gesture she sort of shrank into her chair.

"You don't wanna be under this bastard's thumb anymore, do you?" he asked, gesturing at DiZ with one of his weapons. DiZ looked outraged, his gold-orange eyes ablaze, and though Naminé seemed unable to lift her head to acknowledge the question, she shook her head slowly. "Then go. Go with Xion and Roxas," he said; "I'll keep grandpa occupied."

"But, Axel we can't just leave you here!" Xion said sharply, getting to her feet. She had come here with the intent of returning to Sora, of saving Roxas, of setting things _right_ again—how could she let her _other_ best friend take this risk for her? "We're not going without you!"

He grinned at her over his shoulder and then leveled his chakram at DiZ's face without even looking at the man. "I'll catch up," he said to Xion with a wink.

"Promise?" Xion blurted, and then felt a bit childish.

Axel's smile was warm then. "Cross my heart."

Naminé sat up a bit straighter then, something stern, if a little uncertain, in her eyes. "DiZ has no power here," she said, and the mantled man blustered a bit at her betrayal. "His strength lies in manipulating and controlling people, but... but he can't hurt you here!"

Axel grinned a predatory grin. "You don't say~?"

DiZ took a halting half-step backward, gripping the edge of his cloak like perhaps it would shield him from the glint in Axel's eyes. Without tearing his gaze from DiZ, Axel gestured with the chakram that wasn't pointed at the man.

"Go," he said sternly.

"But where?" Roxas's voice was anxious. "He's not the only person we need to avoid..."

That was right, where were they supposed to go? There was no place in this life for creatures like them anyway—where would they be safe?

"I know just the place," Axel said. "Roxas, you won a big game of cards there once, remember?"

Cards? What? What was he talking about? Xion turned to give Roxas a perplexed frown. Roxas looked thoughtful for a moment, then something seemed to click and he grabbed Xion's arm with one hand and beckoned to Naminé with the other. He summoned a corridor and urged Naminé to step through it. She lingered a moment by the mouth, as if too afraid to venture in alone, and Roxas took the pause to turn back to Axel.

"Y-you better come," Roxas said to Axel, his brow drawn together sternly. "I still haven't forgiven you; there's still a lot I wanna say to you."

"I promised, didn't I?" he said without meeting their eyes—his gaze was still focused on DiZ. "I always keep my promises, Roxas. You can say all you want when I find you guys later."

Roxas grimaced but gave a shaky nod, tugging on Xion's arm, but she stood firm for a moment, eyes still wide and terrified, locked on Axel. Even if what Naminé had said was true, and DiZ couldn't hurt him, what was he going to do? What was going to happen? Why had everything changed so quickly?

And then the moment of fear passed and she let herself be tugged into the corridor, Naminé trailing close behind and, much further away, DiZ uttering a furious exclamation as it closed. Her movements were stiff, clumsy, her body seemingly unable to function properly while her mind was so preoccupied. Roxas' grip on her wrist was firm as he pulled her along and she sort of half-stumbled after him, Naminé's figure barely registering in her peripheral vision.

What was going to happen to them now? Had she just made traitors of Roxas and Axel as well? She'd been trying to _save_ them and she had somehow only dragged them in deeper. Her hands trembled as she clenched them into fists. She closed her eyes against the pressure still there.

What had she gotten them all into?

* * *

**All feedback is appreciated! Thank you for reading. **


	4. Chapter 4

**This fic is coauthored with Kari**

* * *

He waited until he heard the corridor whisper closed behind him and then Axel gave DiZ a long, feline grin.

"Well now," he said, keeping one of his weapons leveled at DiZ's throat, "I think it's time we had a little chat."

DiZ's eyes narrowed dangerously and his grip around the edge of his cloak tightened. "I do not owe you any sort of explanation, _Nobody_," he spat. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Without Naminé I have no hope of awakening Sora and his friends."

"Cry me a river," Axel replied with a roll of his eyes. "Sorry, I'm fresh out of sympathy." His grin widened a bit. "But I guess you already knew that, didn't you?"

"And I suppose the safety of the worlds means nothing to you?" DiZ retorted furiously. "The damage the Organization could cause if left unchecked as they have been is unprecedented. But then again, I suppose you would not trouble yourself with such thoughts, being among their number."

Axel gave DiZ a slightly incredulous look. Was this old coot for real?

"In case you hadn't noticed, gramps, I wasn't here for the _Organization's_ benefit," he said tersely. "I prefer to keep my social life separate from work, thanks; Xion's my _friend_ before she's my coworker." Sure, it hadn't started out that way, but things changed, and boy had they. "The fact that the Organization wants her for its own purposes has nothing to do with me; I'm not here on orders."

His words seemed to have little effect beyond maybe making DiZ bristle a bit more than he was already. "Be that as it may, that boy is the only hope of stopping the Organization for good and halting the damage they have wrought among the worlds and the residents of them. And you would disregard that for those who have no right to exist!"

Now it was Axel's turn to bristle, squaring his shoulders and lowering his chakrams to his sides before dismissing them.

"You know, you're really starting to get on my nerves," he said, his voice low and steely. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Who are you to decide who does and does not have the right to exist?"

DiZ drew himself up to his full height. "I am a servant of the worlds, nothing more, nothing less. Which is more than can be said about you and your so-called 'friends.' As if a Nobody could feel the emotions involved in such attachments."

"A servant?" Axel laughed derisively through his nose. Seriously, was this guy for real? "You don't say~? And precisely what purpose _do_ you serve, then?"

Before DiZ could respond, Axel closed the distance between them, almost too fast for the eye to follow and surely too fast for DiZ to properly react. Tangling one hand in the scarf around DiZ's neck, he gave it a pointed tug, bringing their faces a bit closer. He narrowed his eyes pointedly, but didn't raise his other hand. He didn't need to strike him; DiZ wasn't worth that.

"What if I think you're the one without the right to exist?" he posited. "You think you're better than me, but I'm not the one using a bunch of kids for his own self-righteous delusions of grandeur. You really think you can save the worlds?"

He released the scarf quickly, shoving DiZ backward with enough force to nudge him off-balance, but not enough to knock him down. Axel had his share of arrogance, but this guy's hubris was enough to make him look _humble_.

He sneered then, lifting his chin defiantly.

"You talk about emotion, compassion, friendship, like _I'm_ the one who can't possibly understand it," he said, "but you're the heartless one, in my book. You're no better than Xemnas."

DiZ's eyes widened and for a moment he looked utterly livid. At last he spat out, "This is not the end of this matter, _Nobody_. I assure you." And then, as if to make a point, there was a swirl of shadow at his feet, one that Axel recognized easily enough. So this guy had control over darkness corridors too?

He wasn't getting away that easily, though, not yet. Axel wasn't sure just how adept DiZ might have been with the corridors, and he wanted to make damn sure the kids had time to get to Wonderland and hide.

"Not so fast, DiZ," he said, snapping a hand out to snag the tail of his stupid scarf and giving it a sharp tug. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Really, old man, you should rethink your costume if you're going to agitate a trained assassin." Giving the scarf another tug, more forceful this time, Axel grinned when DiZ gasped in alarm as he was pulled off-balance and stumbled backward. "All those extra bits of fabric flapping about, why you're just crying to get tangled up in something unpleasant. Come on, be a little more aware of your potential wardrobe malfunctions," he chided, winding the scarf around his hand and reeling DiZ in like a fish. He was probably having a little more fun with this than was entirely necessary, but Axel hadn't really had a chance to pick on anyone in a while. "Tell me something," he said then, tightening his fist in the fabric when DiZ was a mere 18 inches away from him, craning his neck to peer indignantly at Axel over his shoulder. Axel grinned predatorily. "How exactly do you know so much about Roxas and Xion anyway? Have you been _spying_ on us at the Organization?"

He knew the original imposter had been Riku, of course, but they hadn't actually considered the possibility of a second. He certainly wasn't going to bring the kids back to HQ, but if he could bring back a red herring instead it would certainly look good in his file.

DiZ scoffed—at least as well as he could with Axel having a tight hold of the scarf wound about his neck, "Do you _really_ think I would disclose such information?"

"I dunno, you've done a fairly good job of convincing me you're a narrow-minded idiot so far," Axel said, his fingers still tangled in the scarf. "I was hoping you might prove it."

At this point it was more just to aggravate DiZ than anything else; stopping him from following the kids was certainly a priority, but doing it this way was more for his own entertainment than efficiency: what good was it if he couldn't make DiZ squirm a bit?

He gave the scarf another pointed tug. "Tell me one thing, _DiZ—_the heck kind of name is that, anyway?—but what _exactly_ did you think you were going to do with Roxas and Xion, hm?"

Axel didn't expect a straight answer, but DiZ was pretty uncomfortable right now, and in Axel's experience uncomfortable people tended to let things slip unintentionally.

"I know you're looking to wake up Mr. Save-The-Worlds, but it's not like you can just mash the kids together and hope Sora takes on the properties of a sponge, you know?"

"I highly doubt you would understand the details," DiZ replied coldly. "The connection between data and memories is no simple matter."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Data? What the hell did that have to do with anything? Roxas wasn't a damn computer program, and while Xion's very existence was incumbent on Sora's memories it wasn't like they could just put them on a boot-disc for her or something.

"The hell are you on about?" he asked carefully, admittedly curious now. "I know the brain isn't that unlike a computer, but it's not as simple as making a backup copy of your memories; it doesn't work like that."

"If making copies of memories were so simple a matter, I would hardly need to spare the effort." DiZ's reply was condescending. "The fact of the matter is that they hold half of Sora's power and a significant portion of his memories between them, and as you yourself noted, they cannot return to Sora in the form they are now."

Axel released DiZ's scarf then, giving the man a bit of a shove. He didn't like the sound of this, not at all, but he didn't have the patience to deal with the doubletalk. Normally Axel would have loved to actually have a chat with someone who spoke sidewinder as well as he did, but everything about this DiZ fellow was getting on his nerves.

The last thing he wanted to do was let DiZ know he was getting under his skin.

"Keep your arrogance and righteousness to yourself, old man," he spat, "and keep your hands _off_ my friends. I don't care how little you think they're worth without Sora, but their lives aren't yours to decide what to do with."

DiZ rapidly backed away, until he and scarf were both out of Axel's reach. It was there that he raised his chin arrogantly, "I do not take orders from you, Nobody."

Darkness formed at his feet again, rising up slowly to encompass his entire form, then vanishing into empty air. He was gone.

Axel just rolled his eyes as the corridor closed.

"I do not take orders from _you,_ Nobody, mrr mrr mrr," he echoed mockingly, making a flapping motion in the air with his hands. "Bah, go on, _run_ away, you old coward. Touch those kids again and you'll regret it."

Of course he knew DiZ couldn't hear him now, but he wasn't about to actually let him have the last word, whether he knew it or not. Putting his hands on his hips and gazing around the now-empty room a moment, a splash of color on the plain white walls caught Axel's eye. Furrowing his brow a little, he crossed the room to peer at some of Naminé's sketches, taped to the wall, adding a vein of brightness to the drab, eerily white room. There weren't many, less than a dozen, but they brought a sort of cheer to the corner of the room.

One image in particular made something twinge behind Axel's sternum: it was a simple scene of three figures, one with red hair, one with gold, and one with a familiar black hood raised over their head. It was fairly obvious who it was supposed to represent, and Axel lifted a hand to lightly brush his fingertips over the two smaller figures.

Yes, this was the way it was supposed to be. The three of them weren't meant to be separated, and Axel was going to do whatever it took to keep them together.

Pivoting, he opened up a corridor and stepped through. He would have to make a report to Saïx before he could rendezvous with the kids, unfortunately. Roxas was no fool, for all his inexperience with this sort of thing, and he knew Wonderland well enough, but he knew Xion was in no state to be rational right now, and Naminé had spent most of her existence locked up in whatever cage her captors felt suited the needs of the operation. He wasn't so sure Roxas was prepared to deal with this much all at once, but he was going to have to put his faith in the kid for the time being. He only hoped they would be all right until he could find them.

* * *

"And you are certain you did everything within your power?"

Axel was starting to get really tired of Saïx's voice. His first stop had been back to the castle to report in—best to play the good soldier, after all—but suddenly running away to Wonderland was looking better and better.

"_Yes_ I did everything in my power," he said sharply, glowering at him and flapping his arms helplessly at his sides. "You know I know as well as you do what will happen to them if they don't come back—what makes you think I wouldn't try?"

Saïx scrutinized him a moment, and Axel was suddenly glad he'd made the effort to stop off in Agrabah to take out a few dozen Heartless. As much as he hated how gross he felt right now, the sheen of sweat on his brow and the general look of dishevelment made the story more believable. Roxas was no pushover—even Saïx had firsthand experience with that—and Axel knew he couldn't call him weak or inept for failing to retrieve him without inflicting the same accusations upon himself. Saïx would never call himself weak or inept, of course, so Axel would be in the clear for the time being.

Saïx's gold eyes shifted away from Axel then and back to his clipboard where he made a note. Axel would have _loved_ to get a good look at his old friend's notes sometime; it might have been nice to know how Saïx actually felt about him.

Oh, wait, Saïx didn't feel _anything._ None of them did.

"Very well," Saïx said after a moment. "Go clean up, I suppose. We can try again tomorrow."

"We?"

Saïx gave him a long-suffering look. "By 'we' I mean 'you', of course," he said dryly. "If anyone has any chance of retrieving Roxas in one piece, it's you."

"And Xion?" Axel asked, his eyes narrow. "What of her?"

"I care not what you do with the broken puppet," he said. "Xemnas has no need of damaged goods. However, should your efforts to bring Roxas back fail, the replica would be an acceptable consolation prize."

Axel clenched his jaw to keep from saying what he really wanted to say. He couldn't dig this grave yet, as much as he honestly would have liked to. Little would have pleased him so much as punching Saïx right in the kisser in that instant.

No, he couldn't do that. Not yet. The kids were counting on him; he couldn't blow their cover. So long as the Organization thought he was looking for them the pursuit would be his alone.

"Go shower," Saïx said tersely; "I don't need to be able to feel to be able to _smell_."

The cinders of Axel's temper flared brightly and his eyes flashed. "Yeah you smell like a dozen friggin' _roses_," Axel snapped. "You always _do_."

And with that he brushed roughly past him and headed down the hall.

It had been foolish of him, perhaps, to think that there was any shadow of Isa left within the cold, empty husk that was Saïx. Axel had done Roxas and Xion more than his share of unkindnesses, for all he had done it with their safety in mind, but being around Saïx was a constant kick in the side these days. Perhaps the constant sting of knowing his oldest friend was standing in front of him, but at the same time couldn't have been further away, was penance enough for his crimes.

* * *

The corridor whispered open and Axel stepped out into the Lotus Forest of Wonderland. This place had always been a bit creepy to him, in that way amusement parks and clowns were creepy. Wonderland wasn't supposed to be a scary place, all things considered, but something about the dissonance of bright, cheerful colors with the dark, eerie defiance of simple physics always kind of gave him the heebie jeebies.

It made for a great hiding place, though, and that was the important part. Now all he had to do was _find_ them. He was suddenly kicking himself for not coming up with some sort of password or something so the kids would know it was safe and all clear, but he didn't figure Roxas would think to suspect he'd been sent here as part of a trap or anything. Axel was far too clever for that, right?

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Axel ambled forward through the forest, past the gargantuan flowers and too-tall grass. Scrabbling up onto an oversized mushroom he climbed up the spiral of toadstools and shaded his eyes to squint out over the wood.

Great, it would take all evening to search this place, and he knew Roxas would have taken pains to hide the girls well. Nothing less from Roxas, after all. Sitting on the edge of the toadstool Axel gripped his chin in thought. Pity he hadn't kept a couple of those walkie-talkies from Castle Oblivion; they would have come in awful handy right about then.

Thankfully it seemed Roxas had been keeping a vigilant lookout, because not two minutes after clambering up to his vantage point atop the mushrooms did Axel spot the kid waving his arms from beyond a patch of the tall grass. Oh, lovely, that was certainly much easier than having to hunt for them. Hopping down from the toadstools Axel jogged toward the wall of grass.

It took some struggling to push through it, and he let out an indignant unbecoming squawk as the last line of grassy defense finally gave way and sent him sprawling into the little clearing beyond it.

"Ugh, next time remind me to bring a weed-whacker," he grumbled, rubbing his head where he had been spilled unceremoniously onto the ground.

Normally Roxas might have laughed or teased him. No such luck now; apparently it was still a little too soon for that. Instead, Roxas gave him a look that teetered on irritation but was mostly comprised of relief.

"What took you so long?!" he asked, apparently a little flustered. "I dunno what else I'm supposed to do to fix it."

"Fix what?" Axel asked, frowning. He'd thought they would be okay—had something happened?

Roxas grabbed his arm impatiently and tugged. "C'mon, this way."

The area Roxas had picked to hide in was fairly secluded, with leaves overhead shielding most of it from view. It was still small enough that what Roxas was talking about became readily apparent once they got inside it, however. Naminé sat on one side, her knees tucked neatly beneath her and a look of relief on her face as the two of them came into view, but what really caught his attention was Xion. She was curled up in a corner of the grass, shoulders shaking a little as she blinked up at him with a tear-streaked face and puffy eyes.

Now, Axel was far from the sensitive sentimental type, but even he was not immune to the effects of small sad girl. His expression drew up in concern and he cast a questioning glance at Naminé before taking to a knee in front of Xion.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Roxas. "Were you guys attacked? I didn't see any Heartless when I arrived..." That didn't mean Roxas hadn't taken care of them all before he arrived, though. "Is anybody hurt?"

He might have sucked at restorative magic, but that didn't mean he was just going to leave them battered without at least having a go at it.

Roxas shook his head. "There wasn't anything big. We were sitting here for a while and she just... started crying," he said, some of his impatience gave way to helplessness.

"I think," Naminé ventured quietly, "she finally got the chance to think about what happened earlier."

Xion, for her part, blinked at him for a couple seconds, her breath hitching, before ducking her head down into her knees.

Oh. That made sense. The gravity of everything hadn't really even hit _Axel_ yet, but mostly because he'd been otherwise occupied. Xion had nearly settled to having herself destroyed, though, and it was really no wonder she was crumpling under the weight of that on her little shoulders.

No one was _physically_ hurt, but it seemed there was plenty of psychological damage to go around. Admittedly, Axel wasn't sure what _he_ could to do fix that either, but Roxas was looking at him expectantly, so he had to at least have a go at it.

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I see," he said quietly, and then reached out to put a hand carefully atop Xion's head. "Hey, you, it's okay now, okay? You can cry if you wanna cry, but... well, we're gonna figure something out." He hesitated, then sighed softly when she didn't move. His hand tightened a little and he sort of scrunched his fingers against her hair. "I know it seems hopeless right now," he said, "and I know we've got a lot of work to do before things are fixed and back to normal, but..."

There was a beat of silence and she sniffled loudly before lifting her head ever so slightly. He met her eye when she peeked up out of her little cocoon of arms and self-loathing and he ventured a small smile.

"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I'd rather have you here and crying and kinda broken than not have you at all; commit it to memory."

Xion's eyes welled up with fresh tears for a moment, and she half-sobbed. Then she leaned forward, ducking her head against his shoulder with one hand fisting tightly into the fabric of his coat.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," she choked out, her voice thick and almost difficult to understand. "I-I'm so s-so sorry..."

"Er—"

Axel sort of jumped at the sudden movement and proximity, but forbade himself to pull away. It was less that he was averse to being in physical contact with someone and more that there were so few people he was comfortable enough with to _do_ so that it was just kneejerk to be on-guard. He never really knew what to do with something like this, though; adept as Axel was at talking himself out of trouble and confident as he was with himself, he really had no idea how to comfort someone. Words, weapons, and fire were the only thing he really excelled at, and he had a feeling none of them were really going to do much good here.

So Axel glanced up at Naminé, as if asking what he was supposed to do with this, and she just delicately hid a smile behind one hand. He supposed he knew what that meant. Lifting his other hand to Xion's shoulder, he patted it awkwardly and then ruffled her hair.

"H-hey, come on, when I said I was going to scold you later I wasn't really being serious," he said. "Oi, Xion..." Another sigh and he reached down to take her chin in one hand, tilting her head up to look at him. "Hey. Seriously, what were you thinking?" he asked, his voice more sad than accusatory. "Did you really think your two best friends were just gonna sit around and let you destroy yourself? What do you take us for?"

Xion hiccuped, eyes closing tight as a few more tears leaked out the corners. "I-I didn't... didn't really think..." She took a shuddering breath "I... I didn't wanna to lose y-you guys. D-didn't want you get h-h-hurt because of me."

Oh boy he was really not cut out for dealing with this sort of thing. He looked up to Roxas.

"Little help here?" he asked, but the other boy was already kneeling impatiently next to them.

"We don't—!" He cut himself off frustratedly, before starting over, "We don't want anything bad to happen to _you_ either."

Axel nodded. He understood where she was coming from—really he did! But why couldn't she understand that _losing_ her would have hurt them as well?

"You should've come to us first," he scolded gently, giving her a stern look. Then he facefaulted. "Er... well, one of us at a time, I guess, since I know we... kinda weren't really on speaking terms for a while there."

Right, he still needed to mend things with Roxas. This situation with Xion took precedence right now, but Axel wasn't keen on losing his friends ever again. He had been through it more than enough times already and certainly wasn't going to allow it to happen again because of his own stubbornness, good intentions notwithstanding.

His knees were starting to ache and so he shifted a bit to sit on his rump, Xion sort of listing bonelessly against him and half-tumbling into his lap. With a wordless startled noise he fumbled to catch her and then took both her shoulders in his hands.

"Dying like that is a copout," he said, frowning. "Never just throw your existence away when there's the slightest chance of a way to live; got it memorized?" His eyes were bright and determined. "Roxas wouldn't want you to die so he could live." He lifted his eyes to the boy then, his brows raised in inquiry. "Right?"

He knew the answer without asking, but figured Xion needed to hear it.

"Of course not!" Roxas' reply was almost incredulous. "I can't eat ice cream by myself. It's not the same. The ice cream's all salty, and my hands get sticky. It's not..." He shook his head. "It's like it's not worth it without someone to share it with." He paused, and then swallowed heavily. "Without _people_ to share it with."

Well that... wasn't the way he'd expected to patch things up with him, and he suspected that Roxas would still want to talk to him later, but for now, he'd take it.

Xion, meanwhile, had opened her eyes finally as she looked from one to the other. At last, she nodded slowly, sniffling as her eyes drifted halfway closed.

"I really am sorry," she mumbled, as she sagged a little in his grip. Now that the worst seemed to be over with, she seemed utterly exhausted.

He supposed that was reasonable—given the way the past week had gone he didn't figure she'd gotten much sleep. He knew _he_ hadn't, but that was neither here nor there. Axel had learned to function on cripplingly small amounts of sleep, but he certainly didn't expect the kids to do the same.

He gave Xion a nudge and sort of arranged her to sit on her knees in front of him, where Roxas quickly dropped to a seat to allow her to lean against him. Lifting his eyes he gave Naminé a beckoning look and she meekly joined the little pow wow, looking uncertain.

It was time to figure out a plan.

Planting his palms on his thighs and giving the kids a serious look Axel blew out a sigh.

"Well... you two are officially deserters now," he said mildly to Roxas and Xion, and then his gaze swung to Naminé. "I'm not sure Xemnas knows you're even still alive, Naminé, so you're more in the clear, but you two..." He furrowed his brow and turned his eyes back to Roxas and Xion. "You're gonna need to lay low for a while, stay under the radar."

Roxas shook his head. "Wait, aren't you coming with us?" He sounded crestfallen. For all the arguing they'd done, the idea of splitting up seemed to genuinely upset him.

Axel made a mental note to explain the concept of Tough Love one of these days.

"I can't," he said, and then made a sharp noise of protest when Roxas opened his mouth to rebut. "Let me finish," he said then, wagging a finger. "I can't come with you just yet. Believe me, if I thought I could tell the Organization to get bent and just disappear with you I would, but it's not that easy."

Axel knew what he needed to do, but knowing that it was the only way to really protect them didn't make it any easier a task.

"I've got to go back," he said, and all three of them looked a bit dismayed by this announcement. "I was sent to retrieve you guys, and I... well, failed to do that. On purpose, obviously, but Saïx hasn't figured that out yet."

He had no illusions of being able to pull the wool over his old friend's eyes forever, but he would take what he could get.

"So long as I keep up the charade of tracking you, you guys will be safe from further pursuit," he said. "They know I'll have a better chance of finding and persuading you to return than anyone else, so as long as I can keep them in the dark about this you guys should be safe."

"But... what about you?" Xion asked softly, her voice still thick. "If they figure out what you're up to..."

Axel grinned. "Hey, I'm not only the best tracker they've got, I'm also the best at running away," he snorted, and then rubbed his chin. "Well, maybe second-best."

Roxas actually laughed. "Yeah, I think Demyx might have you beat there."

Even Xion leaned her head forward, though not quite fast enough to hide the small smile on her face. Once the moment of amusement had died down, though, Roxas frowned. "What're we supposed to do though? Do we stay here?"

"We can, or we can move around," Xion mumbled. "Someone else might see us if we stay here. Even if they aren't looking. Last time... I didn't stay anywhere too long."

Right. Unlike Roxas and Naminé, Xion had actually _been_ on the run from the Organization before. It was a point in their favor, at least. Then again, Xemnas had forbidden them from looking for Xion last time, so her ability to stay out of sight might have only been proportional to the degree of pursuit involved.

Their being on the move also presented its own problems, though. "We'll need some way to meet up every once in awhile at least." They'd need to figure out times and places, ideally when there weren't any other members in a particular world... "This place makes for a good hiding spot, but it's not exactly ideal for extended vacations," Axel noted. "I forgot my camping set, you know?"

"And I'm afraid Twilight Town is probably out of the question," Naminé said, something like apology in her voice. "With DiZ headquartered there, I worry he would find us somehow."

"Right," Axel agreed, "and I don't want you back in his custody any more than I went these two in Xemnas', so it looks like Twilight Town's out too."

He leaned back on his hands and pressed his lips together. This was where their diverse mission repertoire would come in handy, at least. They couldn't stay here, not now, not in the state they were in. Xion was exhausted, for one thing, and if they were going to have any hope of staying out of the Organization's reach they were all going to need to be on the ball at all times.

"Roxas, can you think of any worlds you know well enough to navigate yourself and the girls to an inn of sorts?" he asked. "I can help you guys out this time, but you're gonna have to be prepared to pack up and relocate at a moment's notice if the Organization catches wind of where you are."

"I'm not—" he began, then cut himself off, looking thoughtful. "Actually... I think I might know someone who would be able to help us out." When Axel raised an eyebrow in silent request for elaboration, Roxas continued, "There's this world I was sent to a couple of times and ended up getting trained there by this guy named Phil. I think he could help."

"Trained?" Axel couldn't help the grain of sadness in his voice and quickly attempted to blow the blunder off with exaggerated indignation instead. "Roxas, are you cheating on me? Getting trained by other people, just 'cuz I was acting like a jerk, _sheesh_."

Really, he shouldn't have been stung by the idea. He wasn't the only one Roxas could learn things from, after all. Quashing the inexplicable feeling of loneliness this stirred within him Axel shook his head quickly to clear it and met Roxas' eye.

"Phil, huh?" He frowned a bit. "You think you can trust him? I mean, this is pretty important." Frankly Axel wasn't prepared to trust _anyone_ but the three Nobodies in front of him, but... well, he supposed he trusted Roxas, and if Roxas trusted this Phil person...

Roxas hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I think so." There was a sudden, quiet gasp from Naminé. All three of them looked in her direction, confused.

"Did the world have... tall pillars? A coliseum?" she asked.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"I know Phil—or... rather, Sora does," she explained.

Axel squinted. Right, if she was trying to fix Sora's memories she'd be able to see what he had, at least indirectly.

Roxas meanwhile, was making a face, apparently none too pleased at this development. "Oh," he said, a little surly, like somehow his speaking for Phil had been diminished by the idea that Sora had already met him.

"I think you're right though, that we can trust him," Naminé said.

"Well then," Axel said, pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself off, "I guess that's good enough for me." His gaze slid to Naminé then. "So I guess the biggest question left, then, is... will this be safe?"

Her eyebrows arched. "Safe? I... wouldn't call being fugitives safe, really..."

Axel waved a hand. "No, no, not that," he said. "You let me worry about your criminal records, I mean these two." He gestured at Roxas and Xion then. "As much as I'm not willing to let Xion remove herself from the equation, I don't want to exacerbate Roxas getting any weaker either."

Roxas had seemed fine so far, but Axel honestly had no idea how the whole absorption deal really worked. He sort of understood it in theory, but... well, he understood how Demyx's hairstyle was accomplished in theory as well. That didn't mean it actually made any sense to him.

There was a moment's silence as Naminé folded her hands in her lap before she spoke. "I've been thinking ever since we left, and I think I have an idea that might work for the time being. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, and I'm not sure how permanent it will be, but I can start on it as soon as we get there." She hesitated, then added, "You might want to see if there's any other way to stop the process when you go back though. Just in case."

Axel half-shrugged. "Hey, if you think it'll work then I'll believe you," he said. He didn't have to know Naminé well to know she would have done just about anything to make sure the people around her weren't hurting. Whatever her temporary solution was, Axel was willing to trust her with it. "I'll poke around Vexen's lab again and see if I can't find anything useful. Unfortunately, thorough though he may have been, somehow I can't imagine Vexen left instructions on how to undo the entire purpose he'd _created_ Xion for."

This was said with a grain of facetiousness; he had meant what he'd said when he had told Xion she was no puppet to him.

Rolling one shoulder back he reached down to offer Xion a helping hand up and she took it gingerly. Hauling her to her feet he squeezed her hand before releasing it and then looked at Roxas.

"I dunno about you guys, but Xion looks ready to drop," he said, "and unlike you three I _do_ need to get back to the castle eventually. If I'm gone too long they'll start wondering."

He met Roxas' eye a moment, reading a fair bit of anxiety therein, and offered the boy a smile. "You'll be okay," he said with more confidence in his voice than he had in the hollow where his heart would have been. No, he couldn't afford to worry about this—they _would_ be okay, and he had to believe it too, or else he would give himself away. Axel was a top-notch liar, but he had to make sure the mask stayed in place, no matter how preoccupied he was going to be with the kids' safety. Squaring his shoulders he nodded. "Roxas, you're in charge," he said, a little more assured now, plunking a hand down on Xion's head. "Take care of them—and yourself—and I'll come find you as soon as I'm able. I might have to wait a few days to make sure Saïx doesn't suspect, but I'll come touch base with you three within a week, all right?"

Roxas nodded hesitantly, looking a bit like he wasn't sure how to shoulder this sudden mantle of responsibility. Axel ventured a wan smile.

"I know you still want to yell at me," he said contritely, "and I'll make sure to pencil you in soon, but right now you'll have to settle for a rain check. If I don't get back to the castle it's gonna look bad." He was going to have to be meticulous around Saïx; the other Nobody knew him better than most and would be quick to pick up on things the rest would likely miss. So much for sleeping again anytime soon.

* * *

**Apologies for the slowdown. Both of us have been pretty swamped lately. **

**Thank you for reading and any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!**


End file.
